La Cage Aux Folles (yesterday in the Minneapolis State Theater, http://www.lacage.com/ ): very, very funny. I have never seen anything with George Hamilton, and knowing him more as a strange person he became recently, I was a little bit worried - but he was quite decent (he played the "Robin Williams in American Birthcage" character). The guy who played his partner, Christopher Sieber (the "Nathan Lane") is simply awesome. Even if you saw the American adaptation (Birthcage), it's still very much worth seeing.

[One tip for people from Twin Cities: Even though the performance was quite packed, they still had student/educator rush tickets for $20, which are being sold within 2 hours prior the start of the musical. The kicker - they sell even the very best tickets for $20. We got there about 1 hour before the start, and got two tickets into the "pit." Turns out that "the pit" = 4 four-seat tables right in front of the stage (closer than the 1st row, basically 6 or so feet from the stage) - with COMPLIMENTARY champagne (refilled during the intermission) and some gigantic cheesecake dessert from the nearly luxury restaturant (The Capital Grille) + some coupons for free calamari at Capital Grille. Pretty much the equivalent of court-side luxury box, if there is ever anything like that. The actors actually interacted with us during the play - which was super cool, especially because they referred to us as "those rich people." BTW, everybody sitting at the 2 tables on our side got the tickets through the rush line...

I am not sure whether getting there at 1 hour before the start was precisely the time they ran out of cheaper seats, or whether they went from the best first, and the best were still available when we arrived - but definitely something you should try. ]

Here is a short montage from the show:

Last edited by Tomas on Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

Positives: - no old material- I never stick around for for signing/chatting with the performer (and after watching "Conan O'Brien can't stop", I never will ), but the guy apparently indeed signed a lot of stuff for a neverending line of people - after the 90+ minute long exhausting routine that ended 10:30PM. All that while performing every day on the tour leg OKC-Dallas-Fayetteville-Springfield-Columbia-St.Louis-Cincinnati.- and of course, quite entertaining (I liked his opening, when he said how much he enjoys performing in the Walton Arts Center, especially because Wal-Mart has been boycotting his CDs and DVDs for years. It was double funny because Wal-Mart is actually the chief sponsor of WAC, and - I believe - there was a decent number of Wal-Mart execs in the audience)

Negatives:- for a "political satirist", actually not that much about politics or religion (the longest bits in the routine were about (a) social media and (b) why iPhone and Droid suck - not bad, but not that super, either). He did a shorter bit at the very end about the republican candidates, but they are such an easy target, so there was really nothing that funny/groundbreaking (maybe except for his genuine contempt for Ron Paul and his college-y cheerful fans present at the performance). I think he might have been playing it a little too safe, because he did not know whether he would be performing in front of the college-town audience or more bible-belt crowd (though Black did equate Michele Bachmann's J.D. from the relatively nearby Oral Roberts to him getting his theater degree from Chucky Cheese).

Overall, quite enjoyable performance. And he may be more "edgy" on the East Coast.

Last edited by Tomas on Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:06 am, edited 2 times in total.

Tomas wrote:This is sort of the "Movie" thread, but for any live performances - theater plays, concerts, stand-up performances...I tend to travel quite a lot, so I'd enjoy to read opinions on what's out there.

I'll start:Highly recommended (saw it last Friday):"Brief Encounter" - theater play on a program of Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis (British actors/directors/production from Kneehigh Theatre). Based on famous British Oscar winning movie by Noel Coward about an affair between a housewife and a doctor. The Guthrie play involves some clever gimmicks such as combining live action with movies, and has some surprisingly good comedic side stories built into the main dramatic story. Minneapolis is the last of three-city (New York, San Francisco) stops, so you can see it only there. It will be on the Guthrie program until the beginning of April (http://www.guthrietheater.org/whats_hap ... _encounter ).

Would not touch with 11 ft pole:Joel McHale stand up. Had the bad idea to see it a few months ago (again in Minneapolis). I like the guy on The Soup, but that stand up (including the warm up act: a mildly drunk slightly overweight former child sitcom star - Topenga(?) ) was simply dreadful.

Kevin James: Pretty good, played a huge room...I think it was Heinz Hall, which wasn't that great for comedy. Im not huge on the big big name acts because it seems you are paying more to see the celebrity than any new comedy so I knew a fair amount of the jokes, but I still really enjoyed it.

Iliza Shlesinger: My wife wanted to see her after watching her win Last Comic Standing. She was really enjoyable. I had a blast and would see her again. Plus she's cute and my wife got a picture with her and her dog.

Tommy Johnagin: Hilarious. Would recommend him anywhere. My favorite right now. He has done some late night shows and has some popularity. Was on the last Last Comic Standing I think (that show kind of stinks now, but Tommy was hilarious).

comedy - Jim Norton and Dave Attell - both awesome. saw them both on separate occasions (not together as they do oftentimes play together). if you are a fan of either you need to see them.

some vegas shows:

Penn and Teller - excellent, exceeded my expectationsCirque du Soleil KA - horrible story, overall it was ok. amazing sets and acrobatics. if you can't get cheap tickets its not worth it.Popovich comedy pet theater - maybe the best show for young kids in vegas, if you like animal tricks its great for adults too, cheap as well. the cat tricks this guy pulls off are insane. easily the best bang for your buck show i saw

Machine Head and Darkest Hour at Stage AE tomorrow night. Both are HIGHLY recommended. April 15th @ Stage AE will be Mastodon, Opeth, and Ghost. Mastodon anymore are hit and miss live, Opeth is always impeccable, and I've never seen Ghost though I've heard amazing things about their live show.

cma3585 wrote:Machine Head and Darkest Hour at Stage AE tomorrow night. Both are HIGHLY recommended. April 15th @ Stage AE will be Mastodon, Opeth, and Ghost. Mastodon anymore are hit and miss live, Opeth is always impeccable, and I've never seen Ghost though I've heard amazing things about their live show.

Want to see Machinehead really bad, but I think I'm just getting old, because honestly I'd probably just stand and listen. I have no desire to get into pits anymore at all.

Man, Neil Young released a new 37 minute studio jam with Crazy Horse...check out his website if you want to listen to a killer version of Cortez the Killer near the end of the video. I hope they tour soon...

cma3585 wrote:Machine Head and Darkest Hour at Stage AE tomorrow night. Both are HIGHLY recommended. April 15th @ Stage AE will be Mastodon, Opeth, and Ghost. Mastodon anymore are hit and miss live, Opeth is always impeccable, and I've never seen Ghost though I've heard amazing things about their live show.

Want to see Machinehead really bad, but I think I'm just getting old, because honestly I'd probably just stand and listen. I have no desire to get into pits anymore at all.

Plenty of room at Stage AE to stand in the back and avoid the mess. Hell, even if I go to a show at Smalls, I just stand behind the bar and can't be bothered.

Went to see Freud's Last Session at the Cal O'Reilly Theater. Its an imagined conversation between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis about, primarily, the existence of God. Freud questioning how someone with the intellect of Lewis, who had been a staunch atheist for most of his life, could suddenly be a believer.

It was pretty cool. The two lines I liked the most were:Freud: "Beliefs are always simple when unexamined."--(paraphrase)Freud: You're mad for believing in a fairy tale.Lewis: You're mad for suggesting that you can have such certainty that God doesn't exist.Freud: The only thing more mad is not asking the question at all (of whether God exists).